Improvement in steering apparatus



E. A. INGLEPIELD.

STEERING APPARATUS.

No. 111,546. Jig. Patented Feb. 7, 1871.

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flltvrzzeyi To all whmn it hwy concern: Be ityknown that I, EDWARD Ausos'rus Irena ldl$ haunt $313 1 EDWARD AUGUSTUSINGLEFIELD, or 1o cuo'vnslnnD ROAD, s'r JOHliIS 'wooD; ENGLAND.

Letters Patent .No. 111,546, dated February 7, 187,1.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEERING APPARATUS.

the Schedule referredto-in those I-ettm latcnt and making part of the lame.

FIELD, of 10 Groves End Road, St. Johns Wood, in the jcounty of Middlesex, in England, have invented new and useful Improvement in Hydraulic Apparatus, to be used on shipboard for utilizing the pressure of the external water; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereofl'which will enable'others skilled in the art to make and use the same,'reference.bein had to the accompanying drawing'forming part of thrss'pecification.

It is well known that the water in which a vessel floats exerts a pressure on the bottom of the vessel, and that, if a certain quantity of thatwater be ad mitted throughthe bottom into the ilgc'ofthe vessel,

the forceof the water so admitted under pressure can be utilized as a moving power by means of suitable apparatus, it being understood that the water so admitted into the vessel is afterward tobe removed by pumping, Thus no power can be actually gained, as thework applied to removing the water must exceed that developed by its admission; but it" often happens on shipboard that a very considerable power is occasionally wanted for a short tinie,'as' for moving the rudder,

for raising or training .a gun, for turning a capstanwindlass or gumturretu Now, by the apparatus which I am about to describe, I am enabled to obtaih suchoccasional power from the inflow of external water,- cmploying constantly a moderate power forreinoving, by bilge-pumps or other convenientmezms, the water which has done its work in entering thevessel.

'Whenrotary motion is required, as for turning a windlass capstan or gun-turret, I prefer to employ a turbine, which I place as low as possible in the hold of the vessel, so as to get the highestpossible working column to act upon it. I supply this turbine from the external water, the supply-pipe being governed by .a sluice, valvgorcock; and I discharge the water from the turbine into the bilge of the vessel. I conueot the axis of the turbine by suitable gearing, which may be toothed gear, or-pulleys-or drums, with straps or chains to the; axis of the windlass, capstan, or gunturret, regulating the velocity bythe proportion 'of'the gearing. As the construction of turbines and of intermediate gear'is well understood, and as I'lay' no claim to these apparatus in themselves, Idou'ot give any drawing or detailed dcscriptionof their construc-' tion.

Instead of-a turbine two or more water-cylinders with cranks may be emplowed, the external water act:

ing on them as steam acts in a steam-engine.

When apartial rotation is required, as fortlaining a gun, or'for-moving a gun turret partly around, or for steering byrnoving the tiller tothe one side or the other, I adopt the following constructions.

Around the circumference or' part of the circumference of a g'un-turret, or of a drum fixed on the axis of a gun-turret, or an axis on which the.carriage of a gun is mounted, -I fit a chain the links of which may catch onto cogs or beds in suitable recesses formed on the circumference, and I attach each end of, the chain to the piston-rod or ram of a hydrauliccylinder either directly or with intermediate pulleys. The two bydraulic-cylinders so connected to the chain are placed in the lowest possible. position in the hold of themessel, and each of them'is connected by a pipe fitted with a sluice, valve, or cock, with the external water, and has a port fitted. with a'valve for discharging into .th bilge."

hen it is desired to move the'turret organ in the one direction the supply-valve of the one cylinder is opened and the discharge-valve of the other. The external water thus permitted to press on the pistgm or ram of the one,-while'the piston or ram of the other is relieved iibmpressure, causes the one piston or'ram to move and pull the chain to which it is attached, and thus to give apartial revolution to the gun-turret or rudder.- v

A; similar arrangement is applicableto steering, the chains acted on by the pistons or r'ams being conveyed over pulleys, or made to act by bell-cranks on the til-' ler-arm of the helm. I prefer, however, to effect the operation of steering by an apparatus which is so c on-'- structed as to convey'the power by means of fluid pressure instead of chains, pulleys-or cranks.

Figure 1 represents a longitudinalsection of part of-a vessel fitted with this apparatus, and

' Figure 2, a transverse sectiorrof" art of the apparatus, which is connected immediately with 'the,

tiller.

-Siinilarlette1s of reference indicate corresponding arts. ,v p a is a cylindcr,'placed as low as possible in the hold of the vessel, and fitted with a piston, b,

- On the cylinder there is a slidejiicketfitted with a double slide.

The middle part of this jackct'is connected, by. a pipe, (I, with the external water, and two chambers, f} and f, toward either-end, are connected, by open- -iugs or by breeches-pipe' .e c, to the bilge of the-vessel;

' Each end of the'slide is made-to fit as a piston in the, end parts of the jacket,-an'd the" portions of-the jacket beyond these pistons communicate by passages with-the middle part of the jacket, these passages being fitted -wit-h valves h and h; I

Each of these valves is double, being made to seat up or down, covering in theonc case the passage from 1I,and in'the other case covering a passage which communicates vwith the bilge. These valves have each a stem or rod projecting downward and bearing on a crank-lever, g g,- and from each of these crank-levers a tappet or short rod projects through packing into the cylinder (1-, one at each end.

When the piston b reaches one end of the cylinder it presses on the tappet at that end, and thereby causes the crank-lever g to raise the valve h. This, closing the upper passage and opening the lower passage, relieves that end of the slide from pressure, while the pressure of the external water, acting on the other end of theslidc, causes it to move toward the right hand.

By this movement the port communicating with the right-hand end of the cylinder is connected with the middle orsupply portion of the slide jacket, while the port' communicating with the other end of the cylinder is connected to the discharge into the bilge.

Thus the pressure of the external water is made to act on the piston and force it toward the left hand.

On reaching the end of its stroke it bears on the other tappet and acts in asimilar manner on the valve 71 which causes the movement of the piston to be reversed.

I fix to each or one'cnd of the cyiinde'r a pump or barrel, 1', connected by a pipe with a valve-box, which eontainssuction and discharge-valves like those of an ordinary fOl'CO-Pllllll').

The piston 11 has a projecting rod passing through packing into each of the barrels i '5, and these rods act as plungers in those barrels, so that as long as the piston 1) moves to and fro water supplied to the valvebox is drawn alternatcl y into each of the barrels and discharged from them.

I sometimes construct the'cylindcr a with one barrel and plulger, as represented in fig. 1. In this case the piston b has a tubular rod, v, projecting from one side of it and working in a ba'rrel, 'i, the end of the-rod being fitted with packing and with a central supplyvalve and an annular discharge-valve. Then the piston 1) moves toward one side the annular dischargeralv'e is closed, while the central supply-valve is opened.

\Vater from the cylinder to enters by the'tubular rod and supply-valve into the barrei t, and the water contained in the annular space round'the'tubular rod, being prevented by the annular valve from returning into the barrel, is forced along a pipe, I.

When the piston b returns the central supply-valve in the tubular rod is closed and the annular dischargevalve is opened.

The water contained in the barrel 11 passes into the annular space, which contains half of it, the other half being forced along the pipe I, under pressure, as before. The water thus discharged, whether from the valvebox or from the barrel 1', is conveyed by a pipe, I, to a valve-box or regulating slide, 11, a returlnpipe, m, from that slide communicating in the one case with the supply of the valve-box, and in the other case; that represented in fi 1, with the discharge-pipe into the bilge.

The regulating slide 11 consists of a jacket or casing, made with two parts, and a D or'douhlc-piston slide fitted thereto. I

One of these ,ports communicates with a pipe, 0, and the other with a pipe, 0 and the slide. can be moved to and fro within the jacket by means of a rod, which is carried up through one or more decks to a convenient placc,nr to several convenient places, for I the stecrsman.

The upper part of the rod is provided with a rack or worm at 1), which is acted on by turning a small steering wheel, so that the steersma-n, by turning the wheel in either direction, can place the slide in n so as to open both passages, 0 o", to the middle part of the jacket, or to open either to the middle, and the other to the end part of the jacket.

The middle of the jacket being in communication with the discharge-pipe m, while the ends of the jacket are connected to the pressure-pipe I, either of the pipes 0 0 can thus, by the movement of the steering-wheel, be subjected to pressure, the otherbeing relieved from it, or both can be relieved together.

The pipes o" o are conveyed to'two cylinders, q q, placed one on either side of the tiller-lever K.

Each of those cylinders is fitted with. a plunger or piston, which is connected by a rod -to a pin onthe tiller-levcr K.

When it'is desired to turn the helm to one side or. to the other, the steersman turning the wheel at-p, so as to move the slide in it, causes the pressure of water in one of the pipes o o to act on one of the other. piston or plunger of pressure. Thus the tillerlerer is pushed to the one side or the other.

When it is desired to leave the rudder free, the slide is so moved that the pressure in the two cylinitself, or can be worked in the ordinary way.

Sometimes it is desirable to have the apparatus constructed so that it can be readily thrown out of gear witlrthe rudder. I

For this .purposeI lit a sliding block, 1-, upon the tiller-levcr K, and form on its lower-side a slot or gab. into which a pin attached to the plungers of q g 'antors.

' The sliding block r is titted with a screw, by turning which it can be drawn along the lever, and thus its gab can be removed out of reach of the pin.

Instead of e'mploylng a horizontal cylinder, q q, as represented in figs. 1 and 2, I sometimesfind it contwo steps or collars at a distance apart somewhat s than the stroke of the piston.

The apparatus above described may be also applied to raise heavy weights on board ships, as, for example, to elevate a gun.

For this purpose I mount the gun, or its carriage, on the ram of a hydraulic cylinder, and connect this cylinder-to an apparatus such as I have described.

"By means of a suitable valve or slide I either turn the pressure onto the hydraulic cylinder or relieve it, at pleasure. "In the one case the ram of the cylinder is pushc d upward and raises the gun, in the other case the ram 'andgun descend by their own weight, the rapidity of descent being regulated by the valve.

" Having thus described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The cylinder q q, containing a piston, which is connected with the tiller-lever, a capstan, a gun-turret or gun-carriage, to operate the same, by pressure applied to the ends of said piston, as specified.

2. The cylinder 0, provided the jackctf f, valves pistons or plunger-s. in q or q, while he relieves the ders q q" is equalized. The rudder can then right vcnicut to place it vertically, in which case the cylinrod which is fixedto the piston, and which has on h h, and piston b, to operate substantially as herein The above specification of my invention signed by shown and described. me this 11th day of May, 1870.

'3. The cylinder n, connected with the pipes I, m, 0, Witnesses: E. A. ING'LEFIELD. [L. 5.] and o, and withthe steering-wheel, substantially as ALEX. P. WRIGHT; herein shown and described. Engineer, 55 Millbank street, Westminster.

4. The barrel i, applied to the cylinder at, and com- FREDERIG WILLOUGHBY, bined'with the hollow plunger v,'substantially as here- Clerk to Messrs. Gomerford, Girdler & 00.,

London.

in shown and described. 

